THE LESSONS IN YOGI PHILOSOPHY & ORIENTAL OCCULTISM. William Walker Atkinson
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the higher and lower natures has been noticed by all careful observers of the human mind and character, and many have been the theories advanced to account for it. In former times it was taught that man was being tempted by the devil on the one hand, and helped by a guardian angel on the other. But the truth is known to all occultists that the struggle is between the two elements of man's nature, not exactly warring, but each following its own line of effort, and the "I" being torn and bruised in its efforts to adjust itself.
The Ego is in a transition stage of consciousness, and the struggle is quite painful at times, but the growing man in time rises above the attraction of the lower nature, and dawning Spiritual Consciousness enables him to understand the true state of affairs, and aids him in asserting his mastery over the lower self and in assuming a positive attitude toward it, while at the same time he opens himself up to the light from the Spiritual Mind and holds himself in a negative attitude toward it, resisting not its power.
The Spiritual Mind is also the source of the "inspiration" which certain poets, painters, sculptors, writers, preachers, orators, and others have received in all times and which they receive today. This is the source from which the seer obtains his vision, the prophet his foresight. Many have concentrated themselves upon high ideals in their work, and have received rare knowledge from this source, and have attributed it to beings of another world - from angels, spirits, from God Himself; but all came from within - it was the voice of their Higher Self speaking to them. We do not mean to say that no communications come to man from other intelligences - far from this, we know that higher intelligences do often communicate with man through the channel of his Spiritual Mind - but much that man has attributed to outside intelligences has really come from himself. And man, by the development of his Spiritual Consciousness, may bring himself into a high relationship and contact with this higher part of his nature, and may thus become possessed of a knowledge of which the Intellect has not dared dream.
Certain high psychic powers are also open to man in this way, but such powers are rarely obtained by one until he has risen above the attractions of the lower part of his nature, for unless this were so man might use these high gifts for base purposes. It is only when man ceases to care for power for his personal use that power comes. Such is the Law.
When man learns of the existence of his Spiritual mind and begins to recognize its promptings and leadings, he strengthens his bond of communication with it, and consequently receives light of a greater brilliancy. When we learn to trust the Spirit, it responds by sending us more frequent flashes of illumination and enlightenment. As one unfolds in Spiritual Consciousness he relies more upon this Inner Voice, and is able more readily to distinguish it from impulses from the lower planes of the mind. He learns to follow Spirit's leadings and to allow it to lend him a guiding hand. Many of us have learned to know the reality of being "led by the Spirit." To those who have experienced this leading we need not say more, for they will recognize just what we mean. Those who have not as yet experienced it must wait until the time comes for them, for we cannot describe it, as there are no words to speak of these things which are beyond words.
Toward the close of this lesson we will give a brief outline of some of the phases of "Illumination" or awakening of Spiritual Consciousness, which has come to some of us and will come to all in this or future phases of their unfoldment. We must hasten on to a brief consideration of that which can only be faintly understood by any of us the Seventh Principle - Spirit.
(7) Spirit.
How shall we approach this subject, which even the most advanced minds in the flesh today can but faintly comprehend? How can the finite express or comprehend the infinite? Spirit, man's Seventh Principle, is the Divine Spark - our most precious inheritance from the Divine Power - a ray from the Central Sun - the Real Self. Words cannot express it. Our minds fail to grasp it. It is the soul of the Soul. To understand it we must understand God, for Spirit is a drop from the Spirit Ocean - a grain of sand from the shores of the Infinite - a particle of the Sacred Flame. It is that something within us which is the cause of our evolution through all the weary ages. It was the first to be, and yet it will be the last to appear in full consciousness. When man arrives at a full consciousness of Spirit, he will be so much higher than man that such a being is at present inconceivable to the Intellect. Confined in many sheaths of matter, it has waited through the long and weary ages for even a faint recognition, and is content to wait for ages more until it is fully brought into consciousness. Man will ascend many steps of development - from man to archangel - before Spirit will fully claim its own. The Spirit is that within man which closest approaches the Center - is nearest to God. It is only in an occasional precious moment that we are aware of the existence of Spirit within us, and in such moments we are conscious of coming into the awful presence of the Unknown. These moments may come when one is engaged in deep religious thought - while reading a poem bearing a precious message from soul to soul - in some hour of affliction when all human aid has failed us and when human words seem but mockery - in a moment when all seems lost and we feel the necessity of a direct word from a being higher than ourselves. When these moments come they leave with us a peace which never afterward entirely escapes us, and we are ever after changed beings. In the moment of Illumination or the dawn of Spiritual Consciousness we also feel the real presence of the Spirit. In these moments we become conscious of our relationship with and connection with the Center of Life. Through the medium of the Spirit God reveals Himself to Man.
We cannot dwell longer on this subject - it overpowers one, and mere words seem too weak for use in connection with it. Those who have felt the impulses of the Spiritual Mind have been made faintly conscious of the abiding sense of the Spirit, although they cannot grasp its full significance. And those who have not experienced these things would not understand us if we wrote volumes of our imperfect and undeveloped conceptions of the subject. So we will pass on, trusting that we have awakened in your minds at least a faint desire to be brought into a closer communion and contact with this, the highest part of Self - Self itself. The Peace of the Spirit abide with you.
Illumination or Spiritual Consciousness.
With many, Spiritual Mind unfolds gradually and slowly, and, while one may feel a steady increase of spiritual knowledge and consciousness, he may not have experienced any marked and startling change. Others have had moments of what is known as "Illumination," when they seemed lifted almost out of their normal state, and where they seemed to pass into a higher plane of consciousness or being, which left them more advanced than ever before, although they could not carry back into consciousness a clear recollection of what they had experienced while in the exalted state of mind. These experiences have come to many persons, in different forms and degrees, of all forms of religious beliefs, and have been generally associated with some feature of the particular religious belief entertained by the person experiencing the illumination. But advanced occultists recognize all of these experiences as differing forms of one and the same thing the dawning of the Spiritual Consciousness -the unfoldment of the Spiritual Mind. Some writers have styled this experience "Cosmic Consciousness," which is a very appropriate name, as the illumination, at least in its higher forms, brings one in touch with the whole of Life, making him feel a sense of kinship with all Life, high or low, great or small, "good" or "bad:"
These experiences, of course, vary materially according to the degree of unfoldment of the individual, his previous training, his temperament, etc., but certain characteristics are common to all. The most common feeling is that of possessing almost complete knowledge of all things - almost Omniscience. This feeling exists only for a moment, and leaves one at first in an agony of regret over what he has seen and lost. Another feeling commonly experienced is that of a certainty of immortality - a sense of actual being, and the certainty of having always been, and of being destined to always be. Another feeling is the total slipping away of all fear and the acquirement of a feeling of certainty, trust, and confidence, which is beyond the comprehension of those who have never experienced it. Then a feeling of love sweeps over one - a love which takes in all Life, from those near to one in the flesh to those at the farthest parts of the universe - from those whom we hold as pure and holy to those whom the world regards as vile, wicked, and utterly unworthy. All feelings of self-righteousness and condemnation seem to slip away, and one's love, like the light of the sun, falls upon all alike, irrespective of their degree of development or "goodness."
To some these experiences